Columns

Rick Collins Tips for Contract Negotiations The emergence of Parsabiv™ (etelcalcetide) has spotlighted holes in provider contracts that resulted in lost reimbursement for renal providers. The loss of reimbursement could have been prevented in many cases had payer contracts been negotiated more wisely. In this month’s article we will look at contract terms that providers should avoid. While the examples ... Read More »

LaVarne A. Burton President and CEO, American Kidney Fund Living with kidney failure is incredibly challenging for patients and their loved ones. Dialysis is a complex, demanding process that requires individuals stick closely to treatment for the best possible outcomes. Unfortunately, there are often unforeseen roadblocks standing in the way of adherence when adjusting to a rigorous new routine that ... Read More »

Ajay K. Singh, MBBS, FRCP, MBA Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts One of the most common and problematic issues in the care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the control of blood pressure. Hypertension is associated with both progression of CKD and with a higher rate of cardiovascular complications such as stroke ... Read More »

Rick Collins Chief Operating Officer Sceptre Management Solutions, Inc. KNOCKED SENSIPARLESS Patients and providers using Sensipar® (cinacalcet) and Parsabiv™ (etelcalcetide) are experiencing significantly increased financial liability due to inconsistent coverage of the drugs by payers and the dramatic increase in the coinsurance amount assigned by Medicare Part B. The biggest causes of potential lost reimbursement for providers are Medicare ... Read More »

By Rick Collins and Sarah Tolson It is a saying I have never forgotten. “For a company to make a profit, you can cut costs or bring in more money. I prefer to bring in more money.” These words were spoken by the owner of a small company that was struggling to make ends meet. Over the years, I have ... Read More »

By Kenneth A. Liss, DO Ironically, the request from the editorial staff for 250 to 500 words coincides with day five of our electronic records being disabled. We have been informed that a “ransomware attack” has forced our service provider to block access to our digital records in the name of privacy and security. Unable to get medication lists, labs, ... Read More »

Sarah Tolson For the first time since the inception of the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System, two drugs qualify for payment outside of the dialysis base rate. The renal community is buzzing with questions about reimbursement, purchasing, clinical protocol, and supply chain logistics for Parsabiv™ (etelcalcetide) and Sensipar® (cinacalet). I’ve been speaking with clients to discuss their plans ... Read More »

Ajay K. Singh, MBBS, FRCP, MBA Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts In 2017, there were approximately 64,000 new cases of kidney cancer in the United States1, representing nearly 4% of all cancer cases. Patients with kidney cancer are usually evaluated for surgical management unless the cancer is advanced. The traditional surgical approach has been a ... Read More »

I still remember the excitement expressed by our company’s first client that purchased new, smaller home dialysis machines nearly 20 years ago. While the machines were expensive and would require patients to receive more frequent treatments, the patients’ quality of life would improve significantly, according to the company’s sales representative. Instead of being tied to a standard hemodialysis machine for ... Read More »

One can only donate if this act doesn’t put one’s own health and identity in serious danger.1 While kidney donation markedly improves the lives of recipients, recent studies have shown that the long-term risk of end- stage renal disease (ESRD) among donors is about 11 times greater than that in matched healthy nondonors2. That said, the absolute 15-year risk of ... Read More »